It’s been overshadowed by the new coronavirus outbreak in China, but this year’s flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. At least 14,000 people have died and 250,000 have already been hospitalized during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…  read on >

Love to cross-country ski? Well, all those days spent striding across the snow-covered wilderness may do more than keep you in great physical shape. Swedish researchers report that very fit long-distance skiers were about 30% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease during their 20-year study. The research suggests that any activity that keeps you fit…  read on >

Lung diseases have been striking more people around the world in the past 30 years, new research shows. And being from poor regions is the most important risk factor for respiratory trouble, the scientists added. Aging and risk factors such as smoking, pollution and overweight/obesity are among the other major risk factors for chronic lung…  read on >

As the number of coronavirus cases reached 75,000 and deaths topped 2,000, a two-week quarantine of a cruise ship docked in Japan ended Wednesday. About 300 Americans were recently evacuated from the Diamond Princess over the weekend and are already under quarantine in the United States. Fourteen of those evacuees have tested positive for the…  read on >

Blacks and Hispanics of Caribbean descent may have a much higher risk of stroke than whites, new research suggests. “Previous research has suggested that racial and ethnic disparities in stroke risk are greater at younger ages and dissipate as people get older, so we were surprised to find that the differences remained strong in women…  read on >

New details on nearly 45,000 cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in China show that 80% of cases are mild and the number of new cases has been declining for most of February. The report, released Monday by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, offer some hope that the outbreak might be abating, the Associated…  read on >

Hospitals are bracing for the potential spread of coronavirus in the United States, trying to plan for a potential onslaught of sick patients combined with potential supply shortages. The strict quarantine and screening measures enacted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given hospitals breathing space to review their pandemic plans and…  read on >

Women remain underrepresented in heart disease research, even though it’s the leading cause of death among women worldwide, researchers say. Women accounted for less than 40% of all people enrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials from 2010 through 2017, according to a study published Feb. 17 in the journal Circulation. “One woman dies from cardiovascular disease…  read on >